Inflammatory processes contribute to the pathological events that lead to tissue destruction in autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). For patients suffering with RA the development of therapeutic agents that are capable of blocking TNF1 and IL-1 have been important therapeutic milestones, however a significant number of patients fail to respond to these therapies possibly due to their inherent inability to inhibit other pathways requisite in this complex disease. Several laboratories have suggested that in order to further understand the pathophysiologies of RA new therapeutic targets need to be identified, targeted and validated. One potential class of targets is the cytokine-induced transcription factors; NF-k B, AP-1, C/EBP, and ETS-1 all of which have been detected in RA synovium. Several recent publications support the importance of targeting transcription factors (TFs), which would provide a mechanism of re-regulating gene expression pathways including the cytokine pathway through a controlled, rheostat "switch" rather than a binary on/off mechanism. In addition, a wealth of information and a better understanding of transcriptional biology and gene regulation supports that TFs themselves are potential targets for therapeutic intervention. The proposed project is highly innovative, partnering our translational discovery-based science with in vitro and in vivo validation of this novel target space, the TF-DNA interface for use in the development of first in man type RA therapy. This collaborative and truly synergistic application involving investigators with complementary skills partners the strengths of in silico structure-based small molecule discovery with NMR spectroscopy based target validation and in vitro characterization/evaluation in support of our approach for identifying and developing novel small molecules that specifically target and inhibit the interaction interface between Ets-1 and its sequence specific DNA promoter element. These investigators have unique strengths and expertise, which when partnered provides a significant opportunity for creative, "out of the box" thought and execution as demonstrated by the significant preliminary data in support of this application. Small molecules with demonstrable activity such as those identified represent an attractive opportunity for TF-dependent transcriptional regulation, providing an innovative strategy for the "hit-through-lead" development of therapeutic agents that selectively inhibit ETS TF activity at the TF-DNA level. This application is focused on selectively targeting this TF-DNA interface, which represents a novel approach for TF-dependent transcriptional regulation of Ets-1 and provides a unique opportunity for the development of therapeutic agents selectively targeting this transcription factor. Small molecule inhibition of the TF-DNA interaction interface provides a promising paradigm shift in transcriptional therapy for RA through pathway specific transcriptional regulation as has been attempted for nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB).Through a wealth of information and a better understanding of transcriptional biology and gene regulation, TFs including NF-kB, HIF112 and others have emerged as novel targets for therapeutic intervention. The proposed project is highly innovative, partnering our translational discovery-based science with in vitro and in vivo validation of novel target space; the TF-DNA interface for use in the identification and subsequent development of novel therapies for RA. TFs are established regulators of gene expression and as such are requisite for a variety of biological processes, including growth, differentiation and development as well as pathological processes such as cancer and/or inflammation. Sequence-specific TF-DNA interactions are spatially and temporally regulated, resulting in refined specificity and selectivity at the protein-DNA interface. The ability to selectively target and inhibit the interaction interface of the TF-DNA complex represents a novel, highly specific strategy for reprogramming specific gene pathways that are deregulated in RA and cancer. Unlike other approaches including; polyamides, artificial transcription factors, zinc finger protein therapeutics we have proposed to partner in silico, virtual screening or high throughput docking (HTD) to screen large publicly accessible chemical repositories for small molecules that selectively target and thus inhibit this well-defined molecular interface. Importantly, in silico HTD is ideally suited for the exploration of novel target space such as the Ets-1 TF-DNA interaction interface. Our central hypothesis is that small molecules that target and disrupt this interface would be capable of regulating aberrant gene transcription and would thus offer a novel paradigm of therapy for RA. Those small molecule scaffolds that demonstrate significant in vivo activity would provide a transcriptional therapy platform for RA. This approach, if successful, represents an innovative and very unique opportunity to develop a "first in man" therapeutic approach that will selectively target and disrupt downstream TF-mediated gene expression by targeting the selectivity/specificity interface of the TF. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]